Two of a Kind
by RitaMordio
Summary: Ever since Shinn Asuka's parents died, life hasn't been easy. When he enters a new school and meets Cagalli, things start to change for both of them... Shinn/Cagalli, AU.
1. Chapter 1

"Here's your schedule. Have a great first day!" The secretary chirped with an overly cheerful smile.

_Great day? Yeah right. _Shinn Asuka hadn't had a day that could even be considered remotely decent ever since his parents and beloved sister, Mayu, had been tragically killed in a car accident. Ever since that fateful evening, Shinn's daily life had been transformed into a disarray of business regarding his adoptive parents, moving, entering school, and most of all, mourning. The abrupt loss of his family had been life-shattering. Before their disappearance from his life, every day could indeed be considered a good day. He had been homeschooled for the entirety of his education, allowing him to spend a large majority of his time with Mayu. She had been his best friend without a doubt. Life without her was almost unbearable. Even now, he kept her pink cellphone with him as a memorabilia. Even if it only made him sad, looking at it and thinking of her, he couldn't bear to leave it behind.

_First Period: Grade 12 English with Miss Murrue. Room 1701. _The first class on Shinn's schedule appeared to be located right down the hallway. Thanks to the excellent homeschooling Shinn had received, despite being sixteen, the entrance exam proved that he was smart enough to be in a grade 12 class with students two years older than him. He would be done school in less than a year, if that was the only positive aspect of his current situation.

1701. English. The sign on the door indicated that he was in the right place. Shinn knocked on the door with a sigh. It was time to get this over with.

A brunette woman with a welcoming smile answered the door and ushered him into the classroom. It was a decent sized room with space for about 30 students. Posters advocating good grammar were hanging all around the room, not suprising for an English class. Despite how normal it might seem to the average student, to Shinn it felt foreign.

"Everyone, this is the new student I told you about yesterday. Please introduce yourself." She looked at Shinn expectantly.

"Why do I have to do that? Can't I just go sit down..." Shinn asked Miss Murrue in annoyance. The students were staring at him with the curiosity of five year olds. It was completely embarrassing.

Miss Murrue looked at bit taken aback. "Please, just tell us your name. I don't think they'll bite." She then smiled at him reassuringly.

"I'm Shinn Asuka. It's a great pleasure to meet you all." He said with thinly veiled sarcasm as he looked out at his new classmates.

Miss Murrue ignored his sarcasm. "Is there anything else you'd like to share?"

"No."

The English teacher sighed lightly. "Alright, Shinn. Please go sit at the empty seat toward the back, between the blonde and pink haired girls."

Shinn walked toward the direction she was pointing. Everyone whispered as he took his seat. He glared at the curious students. Couldn't they let this go peacefully? As always, he felt frustrated with his situation. If only his parents hadn't died, he would never have had to go through this. Staring down at his desk angrily, he cursed under his breath. That is, until the girl to the right of him spoke.

"Hey. What's up with that attitude?" Shinn looked at her. She had short blonde hair and was glaring at him with passionate amber eyes. Something told him he couldn't just ignore her like the rest.

"None of your business." Shinn brushed her off with his reply, hoping she'd leave him alone.

"None of my business? How do you expect to-" She stopped mid-sentence when the blue-haired boy sitting behind her put a hand on her shoulder. "Cagalli..." He shook his head. Cagalli sighed in frustration but left Shinn alone.

Shinn put his head down on his desk and closed his eyes, staying that way for a majority of the period. School was every bit as annoying as he had expected.

"Haro! Lacus. Haro!" After about an hour of silence other than Miss Murrue talking, a quiet mechanical sounding voice came from the desk to the left.

"Shh, Haro." A girl's voice whispered in reply. _Haro, that sounds familiar..._ Shinn wondered where he had heard it before.

"Haro!" The voice continued.

"Haro!" The girl's voice responded again. "You've got to calm down. Miss Murrue can't find out I've brought you to class."

Suddenly, the loud sound of plastic hitting tile erupted through the peaceful classroom. No sooner did Shinn sit up to see the source of the commotion than a swift pink mass came flying toward his face. Shinn caught it before it could collide with him, but when he lowered it down to take a look at it, he felt his blood run cold. "This is..."

_"Onii-chan! Super Haro Wars IV! Let's play, come on!" _It was indeed the same type of Haro from the game he and Mayu used to play daily. He must have blocked it out of his memory a bit...but seeing it again now brought on a surge of emotions.

"Why the hell do you have something like this in class?" Shinn meant to throw it back to its owner, but when it collided with the side of her desk loudly he knew it meant trouble. The pink Haro fell from the side of the desk and down to the floor on which it cracked apart.

"What did you do that for?" A voice cried out in protest from behind Shinn. He turned around to meet with angry purple eyes. Shinn just glared back at his classmate.

"Don't worry, Lacus. I'm sure Athrun can build you a new one. Okay?" The purple eyed boy had turned to face the pink haired owner of Haro.

"Yes, thank you Kira." She replied in a sad tone.

"Class, calm down, please." Miss Murrue said over the roar of discussion that had been brought about by the scene. "Lacus...I've asked you not to bring Haro in to class. Please remember that it the future." Lacus nodded feebly. "Shinn. What was that all about?"

Shinn turned away from Miss Murrue's gaze. "Sorry." He said with a lack of emotion. It had all happened so fast. The sudden memory of Mayu had caused an intense reaction. But he didn't feel like explaining that in front of the class.

Miss Murrue sighed. "Is that all you have to say for yourself? I'm sorry Shinn, but since you're new, I want you to understand the expectations of our school. Tomorrow after classes, please go to room 2207 for a detention."

Shinn scowled. Detention on the first day wasn't exactly how he had wanted to start life at his new school. But it couldn't be helped. "Fine," he muttered in reply. Shortly after that, the bell rang. As Shinn walked out of the room, Miss Murrue tried to stop him.

"Shinn. Please explain what exactly went on earlier." She looked concerned, but he continued walking.

"An accident," he said with a shrug, walking out the door without turning back. It was time for the next class, Science with Mr. La Flaga, which was right next door.

Shinn walked in to find that the class seemed to have been waiting for him. "You must be Shinn! I'm Mr. La Flaga. Great to have you in our class. Please take a seat over there beside Lunamaria. Luna, wave so Shinn can find you." Mr. La Flaga didn't make Shinn introduce himself, to his relief. He walked toward a girl waving near the middle of the class. "Since Luna's partner Rey moved away recently, I'm going to ask you to be her lab partner from now on. Is that okay with you?"

"I guess so," Shinn said as he sat down beside a girl with short pink hair. It wasn't as if he could say no.

"Hi, I'm Lunamaria Hawke," the girl said cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you, Shinn. Today we're just continuing yesterday's experiments with chemicals. You can just watch me for now, if you want."

Shinn went along with Lunamaria as she tested various chemicals and wrote things down on her observation sheet. She seemed satisfied filling in most of the conversation herself with Shinn giving an occasional 'Yeah' or 'I see' in reply. At the very least, it wasn't anywhere near as awkward as first period had been. "Hey. Since you're new, you probably don't have anyone to sit with at lunch. Do you want to sit with me and my sister?" Luna asked as the end of the class was approaching. Shinn honestly didn't want to, but it would be too rude to say no in this situation. It wasn't as if he had the excuse of having plans with someone else.

"Okay," Shinn said in reply.

"Great!" Luna responded eagerly as the bell rang in the background. She put her things away quickly and then grabbed Shinn's hand. "I'll show you the way to the cafeteria. We have to hurry if we want to get seats!" Shinn allowed Luna to drag him through the crowds of students in the hallway and into a noisy cafeteria without protest. He would have rather gone somewhere like the roof to be alone, but Lunamaria's enthusiasm was hard to say no to. It almost reminded Shinn of how excited he once got when a new Super Haro Wars game came out.

"Meyrin!" Luna yelled over the dull roar of students gossiping in the large cafeteria.

A cute girl with her hair in pigtails responded to Luna's call. "Onee-chan!" She skipped over to where Shinn and Luna had sat down and took a seat herself across from Luna. When she noticed Shinn sitting beside Luna she blushed and looked down. "Who's that?"

Luna smiled. "Remember the new student I told you was coming to our school today? This is him. Shinn Asuka. Shinn, this is my sister Meyrin."

"H-hi." Meyrin said nervously. Before Shinn got a chance to reply, Luna let out a gasp.

"Hey, Meyrin, look! Athrun is sitting two tables across from us!" Meyrin jumped, looking redder than ever.

"Athrun..." She suddenly started eating her ramen at high-speed, almost as if trying to create an excuse not to talk.

Luna laughed. "Meyrin likes Athrun," she informed Shinn.

"Onee-chan!" Meyrin wailed in protest.

Shinn remembered Athrun from his first period class. He had been the one to stop Cagalli from yelling at him. He was also probably a friend of Kira and Lacus, considering that it seemed he would be replacing the Haro. Shinn scowled at the memory of the scenario. "What's so good about him?" Shinn asked.

Meyrin looked downcast. "It doesn't matter...I think he's with Cagalli anyway..."

Luna sighed. "Meyrin, if you continue with that attitude, he'll never even notice you! Check it out, he's looking this way! Wave to him!" Meyrin cried in protest as Luna started waving her hand for her.

Shinn listened to the sisters banter as he ate his lunch in, what was for a majority, silence. He didn't mind being with them as much as he had expected, but it was hard to get a word in edgewise, if he had anything to say at all. Most of the conversation revolved around Meyrin's apparent crush on Athrun, which made Shinn think about the incident with Haro. Somehow he couldn't help feeling that he had probably already made enemies with the four people sitting around him in English.

"Hey, Shinn. What do you have next period? It's almost the end of lunch." Lunamaria broke his thoughts regarding English.

"Math with Mr. Seiran," Shinn remembered from looking at his schedule earlier.

"Hey!" Luna said eagerly. "You're in Meyrin's class then. Though I gotta warn you, Mr. Seiran is..." She shuddered. "You'll see. Anyway, Meyrin, will you take Shinn to math with you? I've got to go to art." Luna gathered up her things after Meyrin nodded in reply.

"I"ll show you to math room," Meyrin said to Shinn as they headed out of the cafeteria. It was obvious Meyrin wasn't as outgoing as her sister as they walked in silence to the classroom, not that Shinn minded. Especially since the peace would be broken as soon as they opened the door.

"You must be Shinn Asuka!" A man with purple hair proclaimed eagerly the moment Shinn stepped inside the classroom. Meyrin walked over to her seat at the back of the class and waved goodbye to Shinn as Mr. Seiran ushered him to the front of the classroom. "Everyone, the moment you've been waiting for has arrived! Shinn Asuka, the new student, has finally made his appearance!"

_What's up with this ridiculous introduction? _Shinn wondered as a few of the students giggled. He noticed Cagalli, the girl from English, was sitting in the front row and glaring at him. He glared right back.

"Now, I know everyone is dying to be the one to get to sit beside the new student, but...I'm afraid he'll be sitting right...there!"

Shinn's annoyance rose as Mr. Seiran pointed to the empty seat beside Cagalli and right in front of his desk. Apparently, Cagalli wasn't too pleased with the situation either.

"That's Athrun's seat!" she yelled, slamming a fist down on her desk.

Mr. Seiran shook a finger at her. "Now Cagalli, you knew that when I moved Athrun to the back I intended it to be permanent. But don't worry, if you get lonely, you can always talk to me!"

Cagalli crossed her arms and made a face that said, "Like I would want to do that." The math teacher ignored her reaction and started handing out paperwork. "This is today's trigonometry assignment. Have it ready to hand in by the end of class."

Shinn looked down at the sheet he had received. It was easy work compared to the math problems his parents had given him in homeschool.

"Say, Cagalli. Are you perhaps going to the school dance on Friday?" Mr. Seiran had made his way back to his desk and was now trying to engage in small talk with Cagalli. Shinn was far from used to public school, but it seemed weird, to say the least. Not to mention irritating and distracting.

"No way. I hate those kinds of things." Cagalli replied as she tried to work on her math.

Shinn heard the teacher let out a sigh. "Aww, but I'm sure you'd look really beautiful in one of those dresses the girls wear to them!" Shinn raised an eyebrow at his evident disappointment.

Cagalli scowled. "There's no way you're getting me in a dress. And it's kind of hard to concentrate on the worksheet with this discussion."

Mr. Seiran sighed again, but kept quiet for the rest of this class, to both Shinn and Cagalli's relief. Working on the math made time go fast and soon it was time to hand the worksheets in. Only one more class was left until school was over. History with Ms. Bagiruel.

"Shinn Asuka, I presume. Please take a seat in the empty desk in the back."

The class was an easy one to sleep through. No introduction, no notable interactions, just note taking and lecturing. After a boring hour and fifteen minutes, Shinn's first school day was finally over.

Walking toward the doors with his head down, Shinn quickly made his way toward the exit of the building. It had been a long and tedious day, and getting home was his first priority.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, dumbass!" Thanks to the fact that he had been looking down, Shinn had bumped into an arrogant looking teenager on his way out.

"_You _watch where you're going!" Shinn snapped back at him. Suddenly, he noticed something on the floor where the other boy was standing. It must have fallen out of his pocket when they collided - Mayu's cellphone. Evidentially, the other boy noticed it too. He picked it up and examined it.

"This yours? A pink cellphone?" The bully snorted. "Damn, I wouldn't carry something this stupid looking around even if it had belonged to, say...my dead sister!"

Dead. Sister. It was a mere coincidence that the boy would use such an example, but the words rang in Shinn's head repeatedly as the other boy laughed, making his heart pound and his blood boil. "What did you just say?" He lunged at the taller boy and aimed a fist straight toward his face.

That is, until a strong arm held his own back.

"What would you do if you were exactly right about that?" Shinn heard a familiar voice question from behind him. He turned around to see Kira holding his arm, and Cagalli, Athrun and Lacus standing beside him.

The bully's eyes widened. "About the sister? S-shit, I'm sorry! Here!" He shoved the phone into Shinn's free hand and ran off in the other direction, knowing the situation had turned against him. As soon as he was out of sight, Shinn tore his arm from Kira's grasp.

"How do you know about my sister?" Shinn asked Kira with a glare.

Kira, however, smiled at him sympathetically. "Miss Murrue told us about you before you came here, you know. We all want your time here to go well. Don't worry, we forgive you for what happened this morning." Lacus nodded in agreement. Cagalli spoke next, though she looked a bit reluctant.

"About your family...I understand your situation, but-"

Shinn cut her off and turned away from them. "You don't understand anything. Just stay out of my business." He headed back towards the door he had been approaching before the incident.

"Shinn, wait!" Athrun yelled out, but Shinn just ignored him. Clutching Mayu's cellphone, he pushed open the glass doors and headed toward home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

"Baby, what do you want to do? I'm driving. My hands are on the handle bars and I'm standing by~ Want my heart and want my love? No? Forget that, let's swing and kiss~!"

The cheerful lyrics of a popular singer on Mayu's phone were the only thing to be heard in the dark, locked bedroom belonging to Shinn. The red-eyed teenager had taken to listening to music on Mayu's phone as a way to remember the days that seemed so long ago that Mayu would dance around the living room and sing along to said songs whenever they came on TV. Now, these happy days were only a memory.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

_"Sheryl's new video! This is it!" Mayu let go of the pillow she had been hugging to turn the TV volume up a few notches. She grabbed her pink plastic microphone, bought from a toy store a few days ago, and jumped off the couch to begin her 'performance'. _

_"Are you ready onii-chan? This is Mayu Asuka, live!" Her voice was bubbling with excitement._

_"I'm ready! Go Mayu!" Shinn cheered as she began singing and dancing in tune with the video._

_"Wonderful, charming you, I want to get you, lalala~!" Mayu reached her hand out to Shinn and winked as she sung along._

_"Mayu! You're the best!" Shinn played along with Mayu's mock concert as their parents came into the room._

_"Oh my. Is Miss Mayu performing today?" Mrs. Asuka asked with a smile. _

_Mayu pouted. "Okaa-san! The song is already almost over! But!" She said grinning. "My number one fan was here as always!" Mayu pointed to Shinn who laughed in reply._

_"Of course!" He said, giving her the thumbs-up sign. _

_They all laughed happily as Mayu moved on to her next song and brought smiles to her 'fans' for the rest of the evening._


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm home!" Cagalli yelled out loud as she locked the door behind her, even though she knew there was a good chance nobody would answer. She felt a rush of disappointment when she saw that the house was a huge mess as usual, despite the fact that her mother had promised that morning she would clean. Beer bottles and cigarettes were strewn around practically every corner of the once beautiful house. Ever since Cagalli's father had died, it had been in a permanent state of disarray. She thought of cleaning it herself sometimes, but it was just too much of a daunting task, not to mention the fact that with a woman like Mizuho Hibiki in charge, it would simply become the same way in a matter of days. Cagalli sighed as she sat down on the chair in the living room, removing a pair of fake bunny ears before she took her seat.

"What would somebody think if they came over here and saw stuff like this lying around, kaa-san?!" Cagalli knew no one could hear her, but she couldn't help but want to vent her frustration. And her mother wasn't the only thing to frustrate her today - a certain black-haired, red-eyed boy also came to mind.

"Shinn Asuka, huh? What an asshole. Does he think he's the only person who's ever lost family members?! Not to mention breaking Haro like that. And he's got too much pride to even thank Kira for stopping him from getting into a fight! Jerk." Cagalli picked up the TV remote from the coffee table and decided to kill time waiting for her mother to come home from 'work'. If tonight was going to be like any other night, she'd probably have to carry her drunk mother up to bed in a few hours.

"So, should we use sin, cos or tan to solve this angle? Anyone?"

It was Shinn's second day at school and he was already bored senseless. The first two periods and lunch with Luna and Meyrin had gone by without incident. The only thing even remotely interesting that had happened so far was Meyrin spilling soda on herself after Athrun smiled at her from across the cafeteria. There had been no Haro, no bullies and no annoying remarks from Mr. Seiran...yet. But the math class was young.

"Yes, Athrun?" Mr. Seiran asked about halfway through the class, despite the fact that something about the way he spoke made it seem like he didn't really want to hear what Athrun had to say.

"Just to point this out so no one gets confused or copies down the incorrect notes - you did the question in the first example wrong. See, the-"

Mr. Seiran looked appalled, cutting Athrun off mid-sentence. "I did nothing of the sort! I'll have you know I have a university degree in mathematics from the best school in the country!" The look on his face seemed to dare Athrun to try to challenge him further. Despite the fact that it was obvious trouble was starting, Shinn wasn't interested enough to turn around and see Athrun's response.

"I understand that, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes. If you look at the question, I'm sure you can see that-"

The angered math teacher cut him off again. "S-silence! I won't accept any more ridiculous challenges from you, Mr. Zala! For your rudeness, a trip to the office is in order!"

Athrun looked taken aback. "The office, sir? But I was only trying to-"

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Seiran was fuming. "I want you out of my sight! Go to the office, now!"

Athrun seemed angry, but it looked as though he planned on leaving before any more chaos was created. That is, until a new voice spoke out.

"U-um."

Shinn turned around and was surprised to see Meyrin standing up at the back of the class. She shifted, took a deep breath, and continued.

"I really don't think that's fair!"

"And why not?!" Mr. Seiran thundered. Shinn sighed. Meyrin was being brave, but he could tell she was only going to end up getting herself in trouble too.

"Athrun was only trying to make sure people didn't copy the wrong thing off the board! He wasn't trying to insult you!" She looked down to the floor, appearing ready to accept any punishment for disagreeing.

"Meyrin. I honestly thought you were one of the better students in this class. You disappoint me." The math teacher spoke in an overly-dramatic fashion. "Both of you. OUT!" Mr. Seiran pointed toward the door, looking ready to explode. "Or does anyone else want to join them?!"

Meyrin followed Athrun out the door as the whole class looked on in silence. The mood was heavy, as if everyone wanted to yell out in protest, but didn't in fear of what would happen to them. Shinn could hear Cagalli cursing under her breath beside him. He had expected her to be the one to say something, not Meyrin.

"Now," Mr. Seiran said, walking back over to the board after Athrun and Meyrin had left. "Someone, please explain how to do this question correctly. It was...a test, you see. To see if anyone would catch my mistake. I had planned to ask a question about how to do it correctly. Because I meant to do it wrong all along! Y-yes, that's it!"

Shinn rolled his eyes. "Then it makes no sense, why you kicked Athrun out. Wouldn't he have gotten the question right then? It's just another way of saying you have no idea what you did wrong and need someone to explain it, idiot," he muttered under his breath.

Evidentially, he must have spoken loud enough for Cagalli to hear him, because he could've sworn he saw her smile.

"LATE!"

The moment Shinn walked into the detention room, he found himself with a pointer stuck in his face and a white haired teenager glaring bullets at him.

Shinn looked at his watch. "It's thirty seconds after three o'clock."

"Exactly!" The detention master cried. "Inexcusable! Disgusting! Unforgivable!"

Shinn wondered how everyone else had managed to get there so fast, but didn't bother to ask. It was probably due to the fact that they all looked like regulars who would know the treatment for latecomers.

"Yo, Yzak, give him a break. I think he's that new kid, Shinn Asuka," a blond boy who appeared to be Yzak's assistant, said.

"Silence, Dearka! That just makes it even worse! Late to his very first detention!"

Shinn took the only seat left in the class, which conveniently put him next to Cagalli, again.

"I'll be taking attendance now. Say, 'here', within fifteen seconds of being called, or you'll be marked absent. Meaning you'll get another detention! Cagalli Hibiki!"

Cagalli slammed a fist down on her desk. "I TOLD you, it's Cagalli Yula Atha!"

Yzak swung his pointer toward her face. "There's no Cagalli Yula Atha on the list! If Cagalli Hibiki isn't here, she'll be marked absent!"

Cagalli growled. "Fine, I'm here. Now get that damn thing out of my face."

Yzak continued reading the list as Shinn's mind drifted, waiting for his name to be called. He could still hear the detention master yelling at people in the background.

"Mirialia Haw? ... Mirialia Haw! Guess she's absent." Yzak said with an almost happy tone.

"Wait!" Dearka yelled out. "Mark her present."

"Why?!"

"Because she's cute!"

"ONE MORE COMMENT LIKE THAT AND I'LL GIVE YOU A DETENTION TOO!"

"S-sorry! Forget I said anything, boss!"

Shinn groaned inwardly. "Is this detention or some sort of comedy show?" he muttered.

"What did you just say?!" Shinn looked up to find a pointer in his face once again. He hadn't expected Yzak to actually hear him, but since he already had said it within apparent earshot, it wasn't as if he minded repeating himself too much.

"I said, 'Is this some kind of comedy show?'"

"C-comedy?! This is _serious_! Punishment for arrogant, disrespectful students like you, who not only come in late, but have the nerve to talk back! You ought to take a trip to the office with Miss Hibiki after class is over!"

"The office, for something like that? You've got to be kidding!" Shinn couldn't believe his luck. Detention the first day, sent to the office the next. School couldn't be much more of an annoyance.

"Of course I'm not kidding! One more word out of you and I'll give you another detention!"

Shinn glared at the detention master. He took way too much pleasure in punishing students, even though he appeared to be one himself.

"Heine Westenfluss?"

"Here."

"Shani Andras? ... Shani Andras?!"

"Huh? Yeah, here."

"Take that damn headseat off! Auel Neider!"

"Here."

"Shinn Asuka!"

"...here."

Yzak looked at Shinn with a smirk. "Hm. Didn't I say, 'one more word out of you, and it's another detention'?"

Shinn's eyes widened. "But I-!"

"Two, then!"

Shinn growled, clenching his fists. How could this even be allowed? He turned to the side and glared at the wall until detention finally ended.

"But it was an interruption of the class! They'll all take me as a _fool_ if they believe I really made a mistake!"

"Mr. Seiran, I assure you, it will be forgotten in a matter of days..."

Shinn walked into the office to find Mr. Seiran pleading his case to Mr. Durandal, the principal he had met yesterday. Athrun and Meyrin were sitting on the chairs in the waiting section, looking worn out. It seemed Mr. Durandal was trying to lead Mr. Seiran into his office for a private chat, but the math teacher was apparently so upset he wouldn't even stop ranting for that.

Shinn moved to sit down in the waiting section as Cagalli came in behind him. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, Mr. Seiran's eyes lit up.

"Cagalli! You're here! I'm so relieved!" He cried dramatically.

Cagalli looked visibly irritated. "What did you call me down here for?"

Mr. Seiran took her hand and sighed. "I was so happy today, when you didn't challenge me despite Athrun being your boyfriend! I knew that must have meant you saw it my way, so I requested you come here to defend my side of the story!"

Cagalli looked angry and tore her hand from his. "Are you serious?! The reason...the reason I didn't defend Athrun was because if I get another detention, I'll be suspended. How could I see it your way?! It was obvious you were being totally unfair!"

Mr. Seiran looked heartbroken. "But Cagalli, you're my favourite student, and I'm your favourite teacher! How can you say these things?!"

Cagalli was starting to look furious. "Of course you're not my favourite teacher! The way you act is...is borderline sexual harassment!"

The math teacher looked worse than ever. "That's not true! I'm-"

Shinn was getting sick of listening to the ridiculous argument. "It kind of is. Asking her to go to some dance and get dressed up just for your entertainment, what else do you call that?"

Mr. Durandal interrupted them at last. "Everyone, let's go to my office where we can have some privacy, alright? Shinn, you can see the Vice Principal now. Just follow me, her office is right beside mine."

Shinn followed Mr. Durandal, Mr. Seiran, Athrun, Meyrin and Cagalli down the hallway and towards the Vice Principal's office. Cagalli turned to him as they were walking and smiled slightly.

"Thanks for backing me up out there."

Shinn turned away from her. "I wasn't really agreeing with you as much as I was disagreeing with Mr. Seiran," he muttered defensively.

Cagalli returned to scowling. "Whatever," she replied, following the others into the principal's office. Shinn saw that he was now at the Vice Principal's door. He turned the doorknob with a sigh, knowing there was more trouble to come.

"Hello, Shinn. Take a seat." Ms. Gladys addressed him as he walked in and sat down in front of her. She looked at him with disappointment. "I didn't want to see you here so soon after joining our school, Mr. Asuka."

Shinn looked away. "It's not like I want to be here."

"Of course not. But there must be some reason that you've been sent to the office. So tell me."

"There is no reason for me to be here." Shinn replied stubbornly.

Ms. Gladys sighed. "Look, Shinn. It may not seem to be a valid reason to you, but unless you want me to hear the story from the person who sent you here instead- which I doubt would be in your favor- I suggest you just answer me."

"Fine." Shinn agreed unwillingly. If Yzak were to tell the story, he'd surely end up in more trouble than ever. "Yzak sent me here for...saying his detention was comedic, I guess."

Ms. Gladys looked slightly amused at the mention of Yzak. "I see. But the fact that you were in detention in the first place means you'd already done something that was troublesome, does it not?"

Shinn grumbled at the reminder of the reason he had been sent to detention. The incident with the Haro, unlike the incident with Yzak, was something he actually felt slightly bad about.

But only slightly.

"I broke something that belonged to a girl in one of my classes. It was an accident, though."

The vice principal looked at Shinn. "Well, that is regrettable. But you've already served your punishment for that."

"Yeah. Not to mention I got two more detentions just for saying 'here' from Yzak after he told me not to talk." Shinn added with annoyance.

Appearing to be amused once again, Ms. Gladys smiled slightly. "I'm sure Yzak has already given you more than enough punishment. Alright, Shinn. I'll let you off this time. But don't let me see you here again. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am. And...thank you."

Shinn actually felt alright about how the meeting with the vice principal had gone as he walked out of the school building. No more ridiculous punishments. Though, when he thought about how he'd still have to serve two more detentions with Yzak, he felt his irritation rising again. Who was to say he wouldn't somehow score another detention through those existing ones?

Shinn pondered over this while heading toward home. That is, until some movement from a nearby tree caught his attention. And it wasn't just because of the rain falling from the sky and hitting the leaves.

"Lunamaria...?" He was surprised to see Luna sitting up on one of the tree branches, hugging her knees dejectedly. "Shinn..."

"What are you doing up there while it's raining? You're going to get pneumonia..."

Luna didn't even look at him. "Is Meyrin out of the office yet?"

"No, but..." Shinn wondered why Luna was acting strangely. "You should really get down from there."

"Then it's probably true. The rumor that Meyrin might get suspended."

Shinn couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Suspended? Just for agreeing with Athrun? That's ridiculous."

Luna shook her head. "Shinn, you don't know Mr. Seiran. When he gets angry with a student, he'll go out of his way to make sure they're punished. In the harshest way possible."

This news wasn't a huge surprise to Shinn. Mr. Seiran seemed like a pretentious teacher. But the fact that he would go so far just seemed hard to believe.

Shinn didn't know what to say for a moment. It was true that Luna had reason to be worried about Meyrin. But he had no idea how to comfort her.

"Shinn. If I jump down, will you catch me?" Luna called from above. It appeared that she was rather far up, and trying to get down on her own would be quite dangerous. Since Shinn had been the one to tell her to come down in the first place, it only seemed fair to agree.

"Okay. Go ahead." He opened his arms to catch her, though he was hardly ready for what happened next. In a matter of seconds, Lunamaria leapt down from her position in the tree and caused Shinn to fall backwards due to the impact. She was now positioned directly on top of him, their lips touching.

Luna blinked for a second, seemingly confused about what to do. But as soon as she closed her eyes and leaned further into him, Shinn understood. Their accidental contact had turned into a real kiss.

It was the first time he had kissed anyone, and for a moment, as he closed his eyes like she had, his mind was blank. It felt like they were the only two people who existed. It felt kind of...good.

After a few seconds, they opened their eyes almost in unison and their lips parted. For a moment they just looked at each other peacefully, but that moment ended quickly.

"S-sorry..." Lunamaria was now blushing, lifting herself off Shinn as quickly as she could. As soon as she was on her feet, she looked at him directly, despite her redness. "I... didn't mean to do that. Sorry, again." After she had apologized for the second time, she started running. Running away in embarrassment before Shinn even had a chance to reply.

"Luna, wait..." He yelled after her, though it was obvious from the moment she started running that she wouldn't turn back, whether he called to her or not. It wasn't as if the black-haired boy would have known what to say to her if she had come back, anyway. The whole situation had been sudden and awkward, and it was hard to say if there had been any actual feelings behind the kiss. Shinn was about to get up off the ground and try to forget about what had happened when a noise he had never expected to hear again broke the silence Luna had left him in. It's unexpected nature sent a slight chill down his spine.

It was Mayu's cellphone. Mayu, the girl who had been dead for over a month at this point. All of her friends were well aware of what had happened. Who would be trying to get a hold of her now?

Shinn didn't want to answer it, but the persistence of the ring and his own curiosity seemed to refuse to give him a choice.

"H-hello...?"


End file.
